Knitting 40 shades of green

Ten on Tuesday: Vacation edition

Carole's Ten on Tuesday topic is Ten things I always bring on vacation as she gets ready for a big trip to Mexico.  I love to travel and there are some things that always find their way into my luggage.

1. A bathing suit and it goes in the carry-on luggage.  I also keep one in the glove box of my car.  More than once in my life I have found myself wanting a bathing suit and not having one but I think where this habit started was when I was much younger and used to use my dad's employee pass privileges to travel it was possible to have many hours between flights and we would sneak off to an airport hotel for a little swim to kill the time.
2. A corkscrew.  This can come in quite handy in expensive cities for having a little wine in the hotel room and it doesn't take up much room.  But if you are traveling by plane it must go in your checked luggage.
3. While we are speaking of things to put in the checked luggage.  I recently started carrying these picnic knives with me every where.  They are infinitely useful.
4. Reading this might include magazines that I can leave behind as well as a book or two depending on how long the trip is for.  I spent 7 months in Bogota without any English reading materials so this gained importance then.
5. Healthy snacks These often include fruit, trail mix, nuts, vegetables.  Healthy things to eat on the plane and when there isn't a chance to stop for food.
6. Sunblock when you are as fish belly white as I am this is an important thing to remember especially since I have sensitive skin and am pick about what brands I use.
7. My laptop for this very reason I have been considering an i pad  but then wonder if maybe some other tablet is more compatible with everything else I use...must do some research.
8. Work out clothes  I don't always use them but I always bring them.
9. Chargers for phone, laptop, camera, etc
10. Knitting Does this need further explanation?
    

2013 goals.2

Carole of Carole Knits has been challenging us to lists of "ten on Tuesday" for a long time.  This weeks topic is Ten goals for 2013 and I thought I was going to skip it since I wrote about goals for the new year but then I decided I could put some firmer goals out into the interwebs...besides, I was talking with my pilates instructor about the new year and a juice cleanse she was organizing through her studio and it came up for many people the idea of resolutions means that they are at their best for the first couple of weeks in January and then it is all down hill from there.  I had to disagree as January is when you are at your worst for the year as we slowly improve over the course of the year...we can't fail because there are always more small steps that we can take and tomorrow is another day.  Maybe that is the difference between resolutions and goals that everyone talks about.  Resolutions are an immediate changes to make us better that are hard to follow through on over time and goals are broken down into little changes we make to eventually end up better.  So without further ado, ten goals for 2013.

1. Finish some knitting, there seem to be a million things laying around that just need some time devoted to them and usually there wasn't a good reason why they were abandoned (well, sometimes there was) things got busy and they were moved from one spot to another and then out of sight out of mind.  Let say at least one finished object each month (in addition to socks).
2. Keep up the sock knitting.  When I carry these around with me and bring them out a little at a time all those stitches add up -- let's say another 6 pairs of socks
3. While we are on the topic of finishing....that blanket,
   yes, that one...has never been assembled (we won't mention that it was started sometime in 2006)
4. Make pasta.  I finally broke down and bought a pasta mill after wanting one for so long and now I just need to find an afternoon to make some pasta
5. Try my hand at homemade cheese.  I have one of those cheese making kits and a recipe for homemade ricotta -- I just need to pick up a couple gallons of milk.
6. 5 minute no knead bread.  Everyone raves about these recipes...I think they would go great with that home made cheese and I just picked up some rye flour last week.
7. Stop putting off the house projects.  I may have a closing on the 31st of this month and I may not but either way, some things need to be taken care of around here and I can't let them go another year (electric, paint, etc).
8. Be more deliberate in my actions.  I have been highly emotional and impatient lately and probably not someone who you would want to interact with if you hadn't done something the way I thought it should be handled.  (This house purchase is getting to me and my frustration is coming out in unpleasant ways, this has to stop -- adults deserve patience, too)
9. Rediscover the activities that I used to love and now rarely do:  biking, hiking, kayaking (maybe even rock climbing).  See if the spark will be rekindled...
10. Travel....stop procrastinating on the planning and do it.

Wine Blogging Wednesday #74: Value Sparkling Wine

I read a few wine blogs irregularly and one of them mentioned this monthly event, Wine Blogging Wednesday.  I thought I would check it out and as I headed over to the site, I found an aggregator for monthly posts on wine centered around a theme.  With the theme for this month very near and dear to my heart "Value Sparkling Wine", how could I not jump in?  For goodness sake, everyone knows of my bubbly love.  To paraphrase Napoleon, ... you deserve it in victory and you need it in defeat. 

 

Due to my own inclination to support local producers, I thought I would review a Virginian sparkling wine. My first inclination was to review one of my local favorites Horton Sparkling Viognier but a glance in the closet showed that I was all out.  A trip to safeway showed they carried quite a few Horton wines but not the sparkling, the wine shop and liquor store didn't help either and with the price point right at $25 maybe I should try something else.  The liquor store turned up a bottle of Barboursville Brut for $16.90.  Their website describes it as

A classic sparkling wine of distinct Northern Italian influence, the non-vintage Barboursville Brut is estate grown Chardonnay (80%) which has avoided malolactic fermentation and any exposure to oak, and Pinot Noir (20%) from some of our oldest vines. The most honored sparkling wine in the region, a staple on leading wine lists, this is the wine which greets not only every visitor to Palladio Restaurant, but also all guests of The Inn at Little Washington. The growing season does not yield a Chardonnay for the extended winery aging or shelf life of a wine in the Champagne style, but lends itself beautifully to the cultivation of young-harvested sparkling wine grapes destined for vinification in the Prosecco style, of primary and secondary fermentation in stainless steel tank, with generous lees-aging for a brilliant, luscious, and flagrantly romantic palate.

The bubbles are fine and cascade through the middle of the glass not the standard lines of bubbles you get in champagne.  The color is light and the nose is appealing.  The wine has an initial tart nice with a nice acidity, the finish brings on fruit (I always feel like I am guessing on this but I think hints of apple and pear).  It leaves me wanting more.

Read more of my adventures in Virginia Wine Country can be accessed through the links on the Virginia Wineries Page

Ten on Tuesday: soup edition

Ok, first let me apologize for the brevity of yesterday's post but I had the hardest time giving blood since that very first time when I was 17 and lied about both my age and my weight because I wanted to give blood so badly.  Last night wasn't as bad as all that but I think I psyched myself out.  I am the biggest psychosomatic person ever.  I used to leave the doctors and have to lean against the wall of the elevator on the way down to my car as the anxiety and adrenaline that I had built up finally released along with my blood pressure making me feel dizzy (I have never actually fainted but think I know it is what is coming next).  The blood drive was in one of those converted buses and so I was fascinated watching someone across from me give blood and decided to glance down at my own bag -- next thing I knew I could no longer focus.  I muttered something along the lines of "uh oh".  One of the hardest things for me to overcome last night was the reaction of saying "I'm fine" when they asked how I was.  "These are medical professionals, Jasmine,  and they had just watched you turn pale as your blood pressure dropped tell them what you are really feeling".  So I shook my head no and they helped me through it.  I had already given the full pint they just made sure I got some sugar in me (in the form of cranberry juice) and didn't get up too quickly.  They took care of me.  And I struggled to tell them how I was truly feeling along the way.  Do you ever want to lie to avoid complaining?  I kind of hate the fuss and had to have that inner dialogue to let them help me which clearly I needed. 

Carole's theme for the week is soup.  More specifically, what are my favorite kinds of soup.  In the winter, I usually make a pot of soup and a pot of beans every weekend to supply lunches throughout the week and so soups have a special place in my cooking repertoire.  They even have their own cookbook (one of those three ringed binders with plastic sheet covers for each new recipe, they are great if you are looking for recipe organization.  I love the easel backs!) on my recipe bookshelves. 

1. Campbells Vegetarian Vegetable -- this was the soup that my mother gave me as a kid when I was sick and it is comfort food to me.  This is their vegetarian version of alphabet soup.
2. This recipe for basic vegetable soup by Leanne Ely  It tastes a lot like my ultimate comfort food above and yet is so adaptable and allows for so many variations.  Plus it is super low calorie.  This recipe is for a crock pot but I adapted it for the pressure cooker and so for me I spend more time chopping than cooking.
3. The carrot ginger soup pictured above often makes it into the rotation.  Speaking of which, I really need to add the older recipes to my new recipe page
4. I regularly find myself making some variation of cheese and broccoli soup
5. I love gazpacho in all it's forms but often make a variation of a cooking light recipe for Gazpacho with roasted red peppers.  I couldn't find it on my recipes, I will have to post my variation next tomato season.
6. When the fridge overflows with greens I usually make an Italian White Bean and Greens soup.  The original recipe came from the South Beach Diet but anyone who knows me can tell you I probably don't follow it.
7. Lobster Bisque I have never made this (who has spare lobster hanging around) but love to order it in a restaurant
8. Cream of Crab from Union Street Public House.  But they have taken it off the menu.  What now?
9. Corn Chowder  Endless variation and a great way to use the summer corn
10. Borscht  This one, for me, is a memory more than anything.  Driving out to the Eastern Shore and eating this new (to me) food as prepared by the mother of a guy I had a huge crush on.  I may have to make some soon although the beets never stay around long enough to make soup since I seem to be putting them in everything these days.                 
    

 

 

Ramdom posting for Friday night

1. Today is my last day of vacation.  Yes, I don't have to go to work this weekend but somehow that doesn't count.
2. When I woke up this morning, after a night of fitful sleep filled with crazy nightmares that made no sense, I thought it was Saturday.  You can't believe the relief when I figured out I had one more day of vacation.
3. Creation through the eyes of a cookie baker  This is super cool (if not a year old) so if you haven't seen it check it out.
4. I really want to be knitting beautiful things and have started down loading patterns and looking at yearn yarn, I haven't been motivated beyond socks in a long time.
5. Have you seen this?  It is Klimt by by Daniela Johannsenova.  I need it in my life (but maybe I also need to be tall and willowy)
6. Reality isn't always my friend.
7. I would need to add some short rows and that might be beyond my skill.  I would also use a darker novelty yarn.  Check out some of these on ravelry.  
8. So instead I think I will just put a few more rounds in my socks of the moment and dig around for unfinished objects.
9. There are a lot of unfinished objects in this house...I better get knitting.
10. It is getting late and there is a farmers market tomorrow at Courthouse in Arlington.  I am thinking maybe I need to go over there, so I better crawl into bed.

• I just figured out how to make buttons (like the one above) clickable to a website...cool!

Ten on Tuesday: the planner edition

Carole's 10 on Tuesday topic for the week is 10 Things You Want to Do in 2012,  I guess it is sort of a bucket list for the year.  Let's see

1. Travel  to Europe  I spent last year having stay-cations and saving my money because I was going to Europe this year and even though some situations have changed I am going to travel this year.  I was making a list of things to get done this week and one of those was booking a spring vacation to either Spain or Italy.
2. Make 12 pairs of socks I didn't do so well on this goal for 2011 but I think if I focus a little more on knitting in those odd moments that I can do it.  I have a couple of pairs of last years socks that are finished that I need to post about but will get those out of the way in the next couple of weeks and hopefully I can keep to a schedule of one pair a month.
3. Run the Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon It looks as if they have changed the date of this race (and one must assume the Epcot International Wine and Food Festival) from the first weekend in October which works well if I am still teaching at my current location to the second weekend in November.  This makes things a little more tricky to schedule (as does the fact that DIsney doesn't seem to be all that great at updating their websites.  The food festival site is from 2010 and the 2012 WIne and Dine half marathon brings up 2011 information.  Maybe I should be looking at the DestinationRaces Wine Country Race series...why are races so expensive?
4.  Travel to Wine Country in California Too bad the Napa to Sonoma race is already sold out as that would kill two birds with one stone.  It has been too long since I have been to Northern California and I would definitely like to see how wine country in CA compares with our little mom and pop wine industry here in VIrginia.
5. Go on more hikes  There was a time in my life when I would go hiking at least three times a month until the snow came.  It was a rare Sunday that Deb and I didn't get out of bed as early as we could after shutting down the bar the night before in order to tromp through the woods and mountains of Vermont.  Since moving to Virginia, the hiking has been much less frequent and I'd like to get it back on the schedule
6. While we are at it, I didn't take my bike out once last year...Go on more bike rides.
7. Continue my tour of Virginia Wineries My partner in wine is out of the country for a couple of years and unable to get to many of the Virginia wineries and so I hope to continue our quest  and hopefully document it here.
8. Make Pasta  Every time I enter into one of the eating local challenge, I think maybe this is the season I will attempt to make homemade pasta -- It isn't supposed to be hard, I guess I just might need a gadget or two.
9. Fix up the House  I got a head start with this one by having the windows replaced this past year but on the list is upgrading my electrical and getting the place painted and the floors refinished and once that is done we will consider updating the kitchen depending on the financial situation.
10. Eat at Estadio and Rouge 24

There are more but I will stop with these ten so as not to become overwhelmed with all that must be accomplished in the new year.

Ten on Tuesday: Holiday traditions

It is Tuesday and so it must be time for Carole's Ten on Tuesday.  Today's topic is 10 favorite holiday traditions.

As an adult I have become somewhat ambivalent about Christmas.  I love christmas and I love traditions even more (to the point that I was constantly making up my own as a child to add to those my family already followed).  But then my parents got separated shortly before I left for college and that sort of threw me for a loop.  I think we all spent that first Christmas together and after that I was usually coming up with one reason or another to avoid coming home for the holiday.  I would come home for New Year's but often would be the person to volunteer to work over Christmas or I would plan to travel and there was once a point when it was cheaper and less crowded to travel on Christmas day.  I am not sure if my behavior had any effect but around this time my mother started to complain that Christmas had become too commercial and really dialed back any real celebration of the holiday.  So we would usually get together for her late December birthday but not do much for Christmas. Then my sister married a man who had converted to an evangelical religion shortly before they were married and they made the decision to raise their children in his church which doesn't recognize any of the religious holidays that I grew up with.  So, once my father died, I really didn't have any family to celebrate with and most of my close friends seem to travel for the holiday and I often find I am spending it alone with little to differentiate it from any other day.  Maybe if I had grown up going to church more, I would go to services and feel that religious connection but alas, I did not.  Despite this, I love Holiday traditions and though I don't always follow through with them every year, they live on in my imaginary life (you know the way you think or wish that you lived that doesn't exactly match the reality of your life?)  WIthout further ado...

1. Lighting Candles  One of my great aunts used to make the most beautiful candles for all of her brothers and sisters.  Each one was a work of art often with a theme and a complete scene.  My grandmother would share the former year's candle and the tradition was that everyone would light them at the same time (I think it was 5 pm, PST on Christmas Eve) and think of the family who was not there to share the holiday.  It brought us all together.  I believe it still does although I am not sure anyone else is lighting candles.
   
2. Cookie Saturday which I have talked about here and here.  These days it is usually a much smaller affair (or I count bendy girl's party as my Cookie Saturday) but I still try to get an unusual or complicated cookie or two in the month of December. 
3. Christmas Stockings  These have always been one of my favorite things about gift giving.  A big sock full of usually unsubstantial gifts but it always held so much promise and excitement.  Last year I made one for myself full of wrapped gifts and chocolate as well as the one I made up for my boyfriend (and he added a few things to mine). 
   
4. Turtle Candies  My dad loved these and so they were always part of our Christmas -- there were a few years that he got the fancy candy shop version with different nuts and they were always larger -- but they were always chocolate and caramel and nuts.  I still buy these for myself at this time of year usually just the classic from Nestle (although they weren't the original manufacturer). 
   
5. Lasagna  This is a splurge I usually save for the holidays.  Sometimes I make the one I remember my mother making from the Playboy Gourmet Cookbook and other times I will make a vegetarian version but it is always gooey and cheesy and good.
6. Driving Around looking at Christmas Lights  One year when I lived in Vermont we did this from the back of a Limousine while drinking champagne and listening to Christmas music.  We were all dressed up for Nectar's Christmas Party, and they dropped us off after our foray into the country to look at all the best lights. 
   
7. Little White Lights I don't always do a Christmas tree but I love to put up the little white lights and then sit around in just the glow they create.
8. Listening to the Christmas Shows on the Big Broadcast with Ed Walker
   They are always the same but they take me back to listening with my mom when I was a kid.
9. Pistachios  I am not sure I have an explanation for this one -- maybe it was stocking filler but I always associate these with Christmas and can remember my mother giving me a bag long past the time she celebrated Christmas much.
10. Making new traditions
    

10 on Tuesday: thankfulness

WIth the upcoming holiday, today's topic for Carole's 10 on Tuesday is

10 things you are for which you are Thankful

1. I am thankful for humor, it allows us to laugh at ourselves and not take life too seriously.
2. I am thankful for my family who helped to shape the person I am today.  A strong, independent woman who can take on the world if she has to and mostly if happy that she doesn't have to.
3. I am thankful for bad times, problems and hardship for it allows me to grow as a person and lets me better see the good times in contrast.
4. I am thankful for the people who help me through those bad times and share the good ones with me.
5. I am thankful for living in such a wonderful place that has so much to offer that piques my interest:  hiking trails, local restaurants, wineries, history...
6. I am thankful for what I have.  It is enough to allow me to live comfortably and to do the things that I enjoy.
7. I am thankful for my health.  I am running a 15K in a week and a half and while my training has been a bit derailed led by a blood donation followed by a cold, I know that my body can do this and I will finish.
8. I am thankful for an abundance of food, I love food and cooking and eating.  Being able to go to the farmer's markets, specialty food stores and wineries as well as great restaurants allows me to really savor this pleasure.  With so many people in the world going to bed hungry, I know that this is a blessing
9. I am thankful for my hobbies, they are so much more interesting than the drivel on TV
10. I am thankful there are no consequences for not making my NABLOPOMO goal of posting every day this month.

10 on Tuesday: cranberry edition

Carole over at Carole Knits hosts a blog round up on Tuesdays.  Occasionally, I participate and needing content for NABLOPOMO, I figured today's category focuses on one of my favorite flavors of fall.

10 things you do with fresh cranberries

1. Cranberry orange muffins -- I love the sour bites from the fresh cranberries.
2. This recipe for Cranberry Hazelnut Coffee Cake makes me wish I was one of those people who always had some coffee cake on hand in case a neighbor stopped by for a chat and a cup of tea.  Unfortunately I don't live that life and so I don't make it often enough.  Maybe for my team meeting next week...
3. For the last 8 or 9 years I have been making cranberry liqueur.  And while it takes at least 3 weeks, it is absolutely amazing and makes great holiday gifts. 
4. They look super festive floating in champagne or a Kir royal.
5. I like to throw a handful into my standard apple crisp recipe to give it a little zing, especially when I end up using apples that are on the sweeter side.
6. Mix with sugar and caramelized onions and some balsamic vinegar and top cream cheese for a cracker spread (I usually serve this topped with chopped walnuts for a nice crunch)
7. Cranberry Orange relish (nothing easier -- and while I am not so fond of it with my Thanksgiving dinner it is great on fresh biscuits with butter)
8. cranberry curd (this is like lemon curd only with cranberries and if you put it in a tart shell and top with meringue than you don't have left over egg whites)
9. sugared cranberries (I think the recipe was from cooking light -- not sure how successful this recipe was for me but I ate them all)
10. put them in the freezer to extend the season of cranberry goodness.

November 16: movies

Carole's Ten on Tuesday Topic for 11/16 is 10 Movies You'd Like to See in the Theater

I am not much of a movie goer.  Mostly because I don't think of it and without a TV and
 don't get to see the trailers that suck you into the story.  So these may be eclectic, but
 I don't know movies.

1. Gone with the Wind   This is a fovorite movie from my childhood, it was the one of the few movies owned by the Old Town Theater (whose history may not be so accurate) and my baby sitters would take us to watch it.  I know many scenes by heart.
2. Rocky Horror Picture Show because why would you watch this any other way.
3. Little Shop of Horrors fits that cult movie, needs a theater status as well.
4. Treasure of the Sierra Madre Bogart should always be an event
5. The Sound of Music would be striking on the big screen
6. The Wizard of Oz  If for no other reason then my friend's retelling of his mother's small town where all the kids were sworn to secrecy not to tell about the color part.  No spoilers in a simpler age.  I love it
7. The Little Princess This is a childhood favorite that I haven't seen in a theater.
8. Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
9. Miricle on 34th Street Another childhood favorite and my favorite holiday movie
10. something new that I don't know about?